Speakers

Ahmed Aboutaleb

Mayor of Rotterdam

Ahmed Aboutaleb (Beni Sidel, Morocco, 1961) has been mayor of Rotterdam since 2009. He was previously State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment for the Labour Party (PvdA) in the fourth Balkenende cabinet (2007-2008) and alderman in Amsterdam (2004-2007). At the age of fifteen, Aboutaleb came to the Netherlands with his mother and sisters for family reunification (his father was already living and working in the Netherlands). The family lived in The Hague where he attended, successively, LTS, MTS, and HTS [lower vocational technical school, technical secondary school and Technical College]. He graduated in 1987 in telecommunications. Ahmed Aboutaleb is a great lover of poetry.

In the mid-1980s, he started his journalism career. He was a moderator at RVU television, a programme developer at Radio Stad Amsterdam, Radio Noord-Holland and a reporter for Radio Veronica, NOS Radio and RTL4 news. In 1991, he switched over to government. He worked at the Ministry of Welfare Health and Culture, the Social Economic Council (SER) and the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In 1998, he became director of FORUM Institute for Multicultural Development and, in 2002, the director of the sector Social Economic and Cultural Development (MEC) of the municipality of Amsterdam.

Mayor Aboutaleb is a great advocate of the values that are enshrined in the Dutch Constitution: freedom of religion, freedom of expression and the principle of non-discrimination. He sees his city as a breeding ground for social and economic renewal, where residents and businesses from all over the world feel at home and take initiative. A city where it is not your origin that counts, but your talent, education and ambition.

Steve Adler

Mayor of Austin

Mayor Steve Adler took office in January 2015 and has focused on tackling Austin’s mobility and affordability issues. He developed and recently passed the city’s largest transportation bond ever, the Smart Corridor plan. Mayor Adler has been a consistent voice for investing in a clean, sustainable future and for Climate action. During his first year in office, he helped usher in the City’s largest purchase of solar energy, solidifying Austin’s commitment to achieving 30% renewable energy ahead of schedule. Last year he attended COP21 in Paris, joined the Global Covenant of Mayors and signed onto the Under2 MOU. Mayor Adler has received recognition for his innovative ideas. In August 2016, he was recognized by POLITICO Magazine as the co-winner of the Rookie of the Year award. In September 2016, Living Cities included Mayor Adler on its list of 25 Disruptive Leaders.

Herbert M Bautista

Mayor of Quezon City

Mayor Herbert M Bautista is known as a pioneer and progressive advocate of solutions for environment issues and climate change. Under his leadership, Quezon City became the first city in the Philippines to implement a Green Building Ordinance, enforcing sustainable building designs throughout the city. He is leading the city to reduce its carbon footprint through the shift of public facilities towards alternative energy sources, wider installation of systems for resource reuse, and restrictions in the use of non-biodegradable materials. His climate change mitigation activism has resulted in the recognition of the city's success stories in global fora and international movements, and has led it to be chosen to be the pilot city for several climate change program innovations.

His urban development framework anchors the City’s housing and resettlement program on disaster-risk reduction as well as quality of life enrichment. He has led the Quezon City Government to develop an award-winning socialized housing program designed to move the poor from danger areas towards new townships, a project he is implementing in multiples, in collaboration with the private sector and national government agencies.

Gino Van Begin

Secretary General, ICLEI

Having served as ICLEI Regional Director for Europe since 2002 and as Deputy Secretary General since 2007, he brings to his position a wealth of experience in coordinating and leading international institutions and organizations across different aspects of sustainable urban development. Gino has consistently and comprehensively worked over the last 12 years towards ensuring ICLEI’s quality as a responsible, professional, non for profit, local government organization in Europe and worldwide. He has been ICLEI’s Chief Negotiator on local climate actions and was instrumental in organizing various major events, such as the European Sustainable Cities and Towns Conferences which have grown to become the major sustainability rendezvous for local governments in Europe. Gino was also a member of the EU Expert Group to the European Commission on the Urban Environment from 2003-2006, and is a member of the European Commission’s Jury on the European Green Capital. Gino’s vision is to extend this excellent leadership to ICLEI on a global level. He says, “ICLEI with its multi-facets and various functions, as developed by our two former Secretary Generals, is set to play important roles at all levels. As the Secretary General, I am thrilled to contribute my energy, intellectual capacities, diplomacy and perseverance to take this mission-driven organization to the next stages of ambition.” Before joining ICLEI in 2000, Gino worked as advisor and as Team Leader at the EU-funded Environmental Centres for Administration and Technology in Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg, Russia for seven years. From 1987 to 1993, he was a legal advisor at the European Commission’s DG Environment, General Secretariat and DG External relations. He also worked at the Cabinet of the Vice-President of the Government of Flanders and Minister of Economy, Small Business and Energy. Trained as a lawyer from the University of Brussels, Gino speaks Dutch, French, English, German and Russian.

Akel E. Biltaji

His Excellency Mayor of Amman

Born in Gaza, Palestine, in 1941, Akel Biltaji graduated with a Degree in Education in 1962, and joined the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO). In 1969, he returned to Jordan to join ALIA, the Royal Jordanian Airlines, and, in his 28-year distinguished career, served in different capacities, including Senior Vice President. His Majesty, the late King Hussein, appointed Akel Biltaji in 1997 as the Country's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, where he continued to serve until 2001, when he was appointed Chief Commissioner for the newly declared Region of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority. In 2004 King Abdullah II appointed Akel Biltaji as His Majesty's Advisor on Tourism Promotion, Foreign Direct Investment and Country Branding. In 2005, His Majesty appointed Akel Biltaji as a member of the House of Senate, where he served as Chairman of the Tourism and Heritage House Committee, and member of the Foreign Relations, Health and Environment and Education House Committees. In September of 2013, the Prime Minister appointed Akel Biltaji as Mayor of Amman.

Akel Biltaji represented his country in a number of national, regional and international forums and conferences, including the World Economic Forum in Davos. He also sits on the boards of a number of national and international organizations and institutions, including the Steering Committee of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. Akel Biltaji has been decorated with the highest orders by the heads of State of Japan, Norway, France, Spain, Austria, Germany, Chile, Ukraine, and at home.

Michael R. Bloomberg

C40 President of the Board, U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change and 108th Mayor of New York City

Michael R. Bloomberg is the founder of the global financial data services and media company, Bloomberg LP. Between 2002 and 2013, he served as Mayor of New York City and reduced the city's carbon footprint by 19 percent, revitalized the waterfront, implemented ambitious public health and anti-poverty programs, expanded support for arts and culture, and increased graduation rates and private sector job numbers to record highs. As a philanthropist, Bloomberg has given over $3.3 billion in support of education, public health, government innovation, the arts, and the environment. In 2014, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon appointed Bloomberg Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change. In that role, Bloomberg works to highlight the climate work cities are doing and the critical role mayors can play in helping nations create ambitious carbon reduction commitments. This builds on his role as president of the board of the C40 Climate Leadership Group, a network of megacities working to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Bloomberg also serves as a Co-Chair of Risky Business, an organization that is quantifying the economic risks American businesses face from climate change.

Mayor Muriel Bowser

Mayor of Washington, DC

Muriel Bowser serves as Washington, DC’s seventh elected Mayor. Sworn in on January 2, 2015, she pledged to bring a fresh start to the District of Columbia, create pathways to the middle class for residents, and foster a culture of inclusion, transparency and action.

Mayor Bowser expanded opportunity across all 8 Wards of DC by strengthening job training programs, and by attracting and retaining jobs in the District. As of the first quarter of 2016, there are burgeoning projects across the city that will eventually deliver 32,000 new jobs. Washington, DC is the economic engine of the metropolitan region, and has one of the strongest local economies in the country.

Mayor Bowser is committed to producing, protecting and preserving affordable housing. In her first budget, she devoted an historic $100 million to the Housing Production Trust Fund, putting an unprecedented number of affordable housing units into the pipeline. She also made historic investments in education to accelerate the pace of education reform. DC has the fastest improving urban school district in the nation.

The Mayor is committed to making sure every Washingtonian gets a fair shot, including its most vulnerable residents. When she came into office, she pledged to end homelessness. She has taken bold moves to deliver on that commitment, including releasing a plan to replace the city’s largest family shelter with small, dignified family housing.

In everything she does, the Mayor puts District residents first, and ensures that the city’s priorities match the peoples’ priorities. She holds community engagement forums to solicit public input prior to finalizing her fiscal year budget. She is creating a more transparent and open government through a cutting edge open data policy. She championed the successful launch of one of the largest, most transparent body worn camera programs in the nation, to enhance trust between the community and DC’s metropolitan police department. And she launched an inclusive technology program to support startups and entrepreneurs offering products and services to underserved communities.

Prior to her time as Mayor, Bowser served as the Ward 4 councilmember of the DC Council – first elected in a special election in 2007, and re-elected in 2008 and 2012. As a Councilmember, Bowser served as the Chairwoman of the Committee on Economic Development which created more than 5,000 units of affordable housing, passed legislation to build a new soccer stadium and secured from the federal government the best portion of the Walter Reed campus for DC. Bowser led her colleagues to pass comprehensive ethics reform and increased transparency in government contracting.

Bowser also served as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in the Riggs Park neighborhood. A native Washingtonian, Bowser earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Chatham University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from American University.

Don Chen

Director, Equitable Development, Ford Foundation

Don Chen leads the Equitable Development team, supporting urban development strategies to reduce poverty, expand economic opportunities, and advance sustainability in cities and regions in the US and developing countries—with a focus on shaping the delivery systems for affordable housing, community improvement, infrastructure, and city and regional planning. Don joined the foundation in 2008 as a program officer and assumed the role of director in 2015. Previously, he was the founder and CEO of Smart Growth America, where he led efforts to create the National Vacant Properties Campaign and Transportation for America and managed a merger with the Growth Management Leadership Alliance. He has authored many pieces on land use, transportation, social equity, and environmental policy, including Growing Cooler: The Academic Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change (2008, co-author) and “The Science of Smart Growth,” which appeared in the December 2000 issue of Scientific American. Don has also served on the boards of the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, West Harlem Environmental Action, the Environmental Leadership Program, and Grist magazine. He holds a master’s degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University.

Abdeluheb Choho

Deputy Mayor, City of Amsterdam

Abdeluheb Choho is as Deputy Mayor responsible for Public and Green Spaces, Sustainability, Air Quality, Services, ICT and Public Governance. His main focus is on the challenge of how to make Amsterdam a more sustainable city, to which end his 'Agenda Sustainable Amsterdam' has been adopted unanimously by the city council. Its priorities are better air quality, sustainable energy, energy savings and emission free traffic. Choho has previously held various management and consultancy positions in the business world. Furthermore, he used to be Alderperson for D66 in Amsterdam West and was chairman of the party conference in 2011 and 2012. He has volunteered for various charities and social organizations, including positions as member of the board, advisor and fundraiser. Choho moved to the Netherlands from Morocco with his family at the age of three. He later studied commercial economy. In the private sector he worked as a consultant for companies such as Microsoft and Coca-Cola, and served a director at Accenture and YoungWorks. He was also the joint owner of the latter company. Before his appointment as alderperson he was Chief Marketing Officer and a member of the general management of the software concern Total Specific Solutions.

Denis Coderre

Mayor of Montréal

Denis Coderre was elected Montréal’s 44th mayor on November 3, 2013. He got started in federal politics in the 1980s and he was elected to the House of Commons in 1997, where he represented Bourassa as an MP for 16 years until June 2013. As a member of the federal government, Coderre served as Secretary of State for Amateur Sport, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, President of the Queen’s Privy Council, Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Minister Responsible for La Francophonie, and Minister Responsible for the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution. He was also a Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for Haiti. During his years in government, Coderre played an influential role in many projects, including the establishment of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s headquarters in Montréal, the adoption of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the implementation of measures designed to regulate immigration consultants, and the signing of a Safe Third Country agreement with the United States, which enabled both countries to better manage their refugee programs. Coderre became president of Metropolis in 2015. Coderre earned a political science degree from the Université de Montréal and an executive MBA from the University of Ottawa.

Agnes Dasewicz

MBA Director, Office of Private Capital and Microenterprise (PCM), Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment, U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID)

Agnes Dasewicz, MBA, serves as Acting Director of the Office of Private Capital and Microenterprise (PCM) within the Bureaufor Economic Growth, Education, and Environment(E3) of the U.S. Agency of International Development(USAID). Drawingon USAID’s presenceand resources in developing countries, PCM works with investors and other U.S.government agencies, to catalyse greater investment in support of key development objectives. As part of this work, Ms.Dasewicz developed and led the implementation of the private sector outreach strategy under Power Africa,securing over $20 billion of investment commitments from U.S.and African financiers and corporations towards energy transactions on the continent. Ms.Dasewicz has 20 years of experience in the field of investing in developing and transitioning economies, including in infrastructure, SMEs, and social enterprises. Ms. Dasewicz started her work in finance in the 1990s,when she was part of the founding team of the Small Enterprise Assistance Fund (SEAF), now one of the leading global SME investment funds. Subsequently she worked as an investment officer for one of the first private equity funds in Eastern Europe, AIG’s New Europe Fund,and as a manager at the International Finance Corporation (IFC).Prior to joining USAID,Agnes Dasewicz was a founding team member of the Grassroots Business Fund(GBF), a $60 million impact investing fund that provides sustainable economic opportunities to millions of people at the base of the economic pyramid. She holds an MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, and a BA in International Affairs from George Washington University.

Guangli Dong

Deputy Secretary General of the Wuhan Municipal People's Government

Guangli Dong, at present, he holds the position of Deputy Secretary General of the Wuhan Municipal People's Government and he is responsible for the international cooperation of Wuhan. He has worked as director of foreign afffairs administration department of Chinese Foreign Ministry; served as chief counsellor of the Embassy of P.R.China in Niger, Burundi and other duties.

Rahm Emanuel

Mayor of Chicago

Rahm Emanuel has served as the 55th mayor of the city of Chicago since 2011. During that time he has made the tough choices necessary to secure Chicago’s future as a global capital. The Mayor added more than 200 hours to the school day and year while implementing full-day kindergarten for every Chicago child. The Mayor’s comprehensive public safety strategy is focused on expanded prevention programs for at-risk youth, smarter policing strategies, and empowering communities to reduce violence in their neighborhoods. He attracted numerous companies to Chicago and helped to build the next generation of start-ups, while investing in the infrastructure, public transportation, open space and cultural attractions that make Chicago a great place to live, work, and play. Prior to becoming Mayor, Emanuel served as the White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama and served three terms in the U.S. Congress. He previously served as a key member of the Clinton administration from 1993 to 1998, rising to serve as Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy.

Patricia Espinosa

Executive Secretary, UNFCCC

Ms. Espinosa took office as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on 18 July 2016. Ms. Espinosa was the Ambassador of Mexico to Germany from 2012 to 2016 and from 2001 to 2002, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico from 2006 to 2012. She brings more than 30 years of experience at the highest levels in international relations, especially on climate change, global governance, sustainable development, gender equality and protection of human rights.

As Mexico's representative on multilateral bodies and international organizations in Vienna, Geneva and New York, Ms. Espinosa has been engaged as a leader in the global challenge to address climate change and its consequences, notably as Chair of the 16th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC leading to the adoption of the Cancun Agreements. Named by the UN Secretary-General to the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post 2015 Development Agenda, she is a tireless supporter of multilateralism as a way to improve conditions for development in all regions of the world, understanding the inextricable link between the aims of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. Elected Chair of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly (1996) she played a key role in the process leading to the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action at the 4th World Conference on Women. Previous Ambassador of Mexico to Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and UN Organisations in Vienna (2002-2006), she was Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1989-1991) and responsible for economic issues at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the UN in Geneva (1982-1988). She read International Law at the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva and is holder of a Degree in International Relations from El Colegio de Mexico.

Professor Daniel C. Esty

Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, Yale Law School

Dan Esty is the Hillhouse Professor at Yale University with primary appointments in Yale’s Environment and Law Schools and a secondary appointment at the Yale School of Management. He serves as Director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and on the Advisory Board of the Yale Center for Business and Environment, which he founded in 2006. Professor Esty is the author or editor of ten books and dozens of articles on environmental protection, energy, and sustainability -- and their connections to policy, corporate strategy, competitiveness, trade, performance measurement, and economic success. His prize winning volume, Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage, has recently been named the top-selling “green business” book of the past decade.

From 2011 to 2014, Professor Esty served as Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection where he earned a reputation for bringing innovative thinking to both energy and environmental policymaking. He launched Connecticut’s first-in-the-nation Green Bank and undertook a “LEAN” restructuring of all of Connecticut’s environmental permitting programs to make the state’s regulatory framework lighter, faster, more efficient, and effective. Prior to taking up his Yale Professorship in 1994, he served in a variety of senior positions at the US Environmental Protection Agency (where he helped negotiate the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change) and was a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC.

Hany A. Fam

Executive Vice President, Mastercard Enterprise Partnerships

Hany is Executive Vice President, Mastercard Enterprise Partnerships. He is responsible for bringing Mastercard’s existing assets; our network, analytics, products and solutions to bear in areas outside of Mastercard’s traditional domain. Hany and his team partner with market leaders across multiple industries such as international travel, urban mobility and international trade, collaborating with innovative organizations, governments and cities, combining expertise and complementary technologies in order to bring about industry wide transformative change. Within his role Hany is responsible for Mastercard’s global smart city strategy, applying Mastercard’s emerging payment technology and data analytics to the challenges cities face in order to deliver efficiencies and money savings for cities and deliver convenience, speed and simplicity to transform consumer experience. Mastercard is committed to make cities better and being a driving force for change - helping to deliver smart, sustainable cities for smart citizens and freeing investment for urban development. Hany has been with Mastercard for 20 years and has held a number of senior positions including, President, UK & Ireland Markets where he was responsible for overall oversight, management and the strategic direction for the second largest market in the world at Mastercard. He also ran all non-US Key Global Accounts; ABN Amro, Barclay, GE, HSBC, RBS, and Santander. Hany is an associate fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, a full member of the Australian Institute of Banking, a member and practicing professional of the Australian Computing Society, and an accredited member of The Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine. Hany has earned a Master of Business Administration degree, a Master's degree in Banking and Finance and a Graduate Diploma in Accounting and Finance, all from the University of Technology, Sydney. His undergraduate studies include a Bachelor of Science degree from Macquarie University, Sydney, and a diploma in Nuclear Medicine Technology from the Sydney College of Technical Education.

Helen Fernandez

Mayor of Caracas

Mayor Helen Fernández is in charge of the Metropolitan District of Caracas, a region composed by five municipalities (Baruta, Chacao, Sucre, El Hatillo and Libertador), each with its own Mayor. During her public career in the Metropolitan District, Mayor Fernández was the Director of Social Development, implementing programs for the young, senior citizens and small entrepreneurs.

Her tenure as Mayor of the Metropolitan District has been marked by the financial crisis and the overtaking of local competencies by the National Government, however, she has campaigned under the slogan “Standing up for Caracas” to recover those local functions and budget allocations. Before joining the Alliance of the Brave People Party (Alianza Bravo Pueblo), Mayor Fernández was a political activist of the National Command for Resistance and as an active member of NGOs like Women Organized for Venezuela (Mujeres Organizadas por Venezuela), Democracy Watch (Vigilantes de la Democracia) and National Front for Liberty (Frente Nacional por la Libertad). Mayor Fernández is married and the mother of three kids.

Christiana Figueres

Former Secretary General, UNFCCC

Ms. Figueres is a world authority on global climate change and was the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC from 2010-2016. She directed the successful Conferences of the Parties in Cancun 2010, Durban 2011, Doha 2012, Warsaw 2013, and Lima 2014, before culminating in the historical Paris Agreement of 2015. Throughout her tenure Ms. Figueres brought together national and sub national governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and communities of faith, think tanks and technology providers, NGOs and parliamentarians, to jointly deliver the unprecedented climate change agreement. For this achievement Ms. Figueres has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy. In addition to her diplomatic achievements over 20 years, she has served as Director of Renewable Energy in the Americas (REIA) and founded in 1995 the non-profit Center for Sustainable Development of the Americas (CSDA), which she directed for eight years.

Gustavo Bonato Fruet

Mayor of Curitiba

Gustavo Bonato Fruet was born in Curitiba, Paraná, in 1963. He is the son of Mauricio and Ivete Fruet. His father was a state representative, federal congressman, and mayor of Curitiba. Gustavo Fruet is married to the journalist Marcia Oleskovicz.

Mr. Fruet graduated from the Law School in the Federal University (UFPR). He also has degrees of Master of Law and Doctorate of Public Law of Social Relations from the same university. He began his political life by joining a student movement and presiding over the Hugo Simas Academic Center, representing the Law School Division.

In 1996, Mr. Fruet was elected as an alderman in Curitiba´s city government. Two years later, he was elected as a federal congressman, after a very brief political campaign where he stepped in to take the place of his father, who had died a few days before the election. In 2002, he was re-elected as federal congressman with 105,166 votes.

In 2006, Fruet was re-elected again with 210,674 votes, making him the most popular congressman from the state of Paraná.

During his twelve years serving as congressman in the House of Representatives in Brasília, Mr. Fruet has introduced over 40 projects. He received great praise from the media and his constituents during the political initiation of CPI, a program begun to monitor government spending.

His efforts championing CPI as well as his general performance representing Paraná in Brasília have been recognized by voters, journalists and public institutions alike. Since 2003, he has consistently made the "100 Heads of Congress" list, which is issued by the Department of Inter-parliamentary Advisory, known as DIAP.

Mr. Fruet also figures among the politicians who have been awarded the "Congress in Focus Award", created in 2006 to recognize political efforts and diligence. He is part of a select group of 11 congressional finalists who have made the list for every edition.

In 2010, Mr. Fruet ran for the Senate, earning 2.5 million votes.

In 2012, he gathered 597,200 votes by the population of the city of Curitiba, and swore in on January 1, 2013 as Mayor of Curitiba. Mayor Fruet governed the city during the most critical economic crisis in the country and still managed to advance social and educational indexes, keeping and improving public services.

In four years, Curitiba has received over 30 national and international awards. Austin Rating rated Curitiba the Best City in Brazil. The Federal Public Ministry granted Curitiba the highest score in the National Transparency Ranking.

Gabriella Gómez-Mont

Founder and Director, Laboratorio Para la Ciudad

Gabriella Gómez-Mont is the founder of Laboratorio para la Ciudad, the experimental arm / creative think tank of the Mexico City government. The Lab is a place to reflect about all things city and to explore other social scripts and urban futures for the largest megalopolis in the western hemisphere, working across diverse areas, such as urban creativity, mobility, governance, civic tech, public space etc. In addition, the Lab looks to create links between civil society and government, constantly shifting shape to accommodate multidisciplinary collaborations, and insisting on the importance of political and social imagination in the execution of its experiments.

Besides her fascination with all things city, Gabriella is a journalist, visual artist, a director of documentary films, as well as a creative advisor to several cities, universities and companies. She has been awarded several international recognitions for her work in different fields, such as the first prize in the Audi Urban Future Award, the Best Art Practice Award given by the Italian government, and the TED City 2.0 Prize, among others. She is also a TED speaker, TED Senior Fellow, an MIT Director´s Fellow, a Yale World Fellow, an Institute for the Future Fellow, a World Cities Summit Young Leader and part of the international advisory committee for the Mayor of Seoul on Social Innovation. She was recently named one of the 100 most creative people in business in the world by Fast Company magazine.

Tanya Müller García

Secretary of Environment, Mexico City

Tanya Müller García is the Secretary of Environment of Mexico City. She holds a Master’s degree in International Agriculture Economics and Management from Humboldt University of Berlin; she is an Agronomist Engineer with a specialization in Horticulture from the Agricultural Panamerican School in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and a Specialization on Environmental Law and Natural Resources from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM). She holds a Postgraduate in Hydrometeorology by the Ministry of Transport at Tel Aviv, Israel.

In 2014 she was elected by the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to be one of the 12 members of the UN High Level Advisory Group for Sustainable Transport. Tanya Müller is founding director of World Urban Parks. She is also founder and Vice President of the World Green Infrastructure Network, a worldwide association dedicated to the promotion of green infrastructure in different regions of the world and president of the Mexican Green Roofs Civil Association (AMENA A.C.), dedicated to the research and dissemination of green roofs and walls.

Martha Gutierrez

Martha Gutierrez is Director of Division for Governance, Crisis Management and Construction of GIZ. She is in charge of operations of all global programs in these fields, including urban development and metropolitan regions. Perhaps the most prominent area under her responsibility is the portfolio of Transitional Aid and Infrastructure to support Refugees, IDP and Host Communities, especially in Northern Iraq and Eastern Ukraine. Martha Gutierrez has also served as GIZ Country Director in Uganda, as a team leader on decentralization policy at the Indonesian Ministry for Home Affairs and as a Governance-Advisor in various programs at GIZ Headquarters and in partner countries. Martha Gutierrez has over 20 years working experience in Development and International Cooperation in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Sciences with a Major in Public Law from the University of Frankfurt, Germany. She was born in Bogotá, Colombia and grew up there and in the USA. She is married and has one daughter.

Felipe de Jesús Gutiérrez

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Mexico City

Felipe de Jesús Gutiérrez G. serves at the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in Mexico City. Prior to this role, he served as the Advisor to Mayor Miguel Mancera on issues of urban development and was Director General of Urban Development and Head of the Division of Planning and Real Estate Investment in the Mexico Social Security Institute.

Secretary Gutiérrez served as the President of the Association of Engineers and Architects in Mexico and the President of the College of Architects of Mexico City and the Mexican Society of Architects. He holds an architecture degree from the National Polytechnic Institute, a Masters in Urban Planning from the Autonomous National University of Mexico and a Masters in Real Estate Management from the Polytechnic University in Madrid.

Fernando Haddad

Mayor of São Paulo

Mayor Fernando Haddad holds a Masters degree in economics and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of São Paulo. He has devoted much of his career to public service: as an academic and as a political leader. He has consulted with the Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas, an economics research institute, based at the School of Economics at the University of São Paulo. He is also a professor at the politics department of the University of São Paulo. He began his public career as Chief of Staff to the Finance and Economic Development of the Municipality of São Paulo and a special advisor to the Municipality of Planning, Budget and Management. From 2005 – 2012, Mayor Hadded served in the cabinet position of Minister of Education under the administrations of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. In 2012 he was elected Mayor of São Paulo. The Wall Street Journal has described him as an ‘Urban Visionary’ for his determination to make his city a cidade inteligente (smart city) through interventions on urban transport, democratisation of space, and innovations for inclusive growth

Charlie Hales

Mayor of Portland

Charlie Hales is the mayor of Portland, Ore.; he took office Jan. 1, 2013. He previously served on the Portland City Council from 1993 to 2002.

Prior to serving as City Commissioner, Hales was vice president for the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland. During that time, both at work and in the community, he began to detect hints of the sort of shortsighted development he saw on the East Coast, where he grew up. So he ran for Council in 1992. In office he championed investments in parks, light rail, street cars, and safe bicycle routes to reduce traffic congestion and improve environmental quality — under then Commissioner Hales’ leadership, Portland was the first U.S city to adopt a climate action plan in 1993, and the first to bring back the modern streetcar.

Between his service as City Commissioner and his election to the office of mayor, Hales focused on integrating regional transit with the urban environment. He was a senior vice president with HDR, Inc., an engineering firm, where he managed planning and design of new streetcar lines across the country, as well as rapid bus corridors and citywide bus system planning.

In his first two years as mayor, Hales confronted a $21.5 million budget shortfall, the city’s largest ever; championed police reform; and advocated for renewing the parks bond he helped pass back in 1994.

As a member of C40, Hales has led Portland’s bold climate action agenda, such as: implementing energy data reporting and benchmarking for large buildings; expanding adoption of zero-emission vehicles and developing a Pacific Coast electric vehicle charging network from Southern California to British Columbia; accelerating the deployment of distributed, community-scale renewable energy; reducing carbon emissions from the food waste stream by preventing and recovering organic waste and promoting composting; and on Dec 8th, the Portland City Council is poised to pass Mayor Hales’ proposed Fossil Fuel Zoning Amendments that will prohibit new bulk fossil fuel terminals and the expansion of existing facilities.

Portland’s efforts to grow sustainably have resulted in a 21 percent reduction in carbon emissions from 1990 levels — even as the city’s population and jobs have grown substantially — well on the path to reach the City’s goal of an 80 percent reduction by 2050 compared to 1990 levels.

Hales took graduate studies in public administration at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, and holds a bachelor’s in political theory from the University of Virginia.

Kate Hampton

CEO, Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)

Before becoming CIFF’s CEO in March 2016, Kate led the climate change team. She built a portfolio of advocacy and technical assistance programmes supporting the development of ambitious government policies in Europe, China, Latin America, and the world’s megacities in the lead up to the Paris Agreement. Kate sits on a number of boards, including the European Climate Foundation and CDP. Before joining CIFF, Kate was Head of Policy at Climate Change Capital, a boutique investment firm with $1.5 billion under management. She advised the United Kingdom's G8 and EU presidencies in 2005 and the EU High-Level Group on Competitiveness, Energy and Environment. Kate was Head of the Climate Change Campaign for Friends of the Earth International and managed a civil society advisory group to the UK Foreign Office at Green Alliance. In 2008, Kate was named a WEF Young Global Leader. She holds a BSc. from the London School of Economics and a Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.

Dan Hamza-Goodacre

Director of Buildings and Industry, ClimateWorks Foundation

Dan Hamza-Goodacre directs the Energy Efficiency (buildings and industry) program at ClimateWorks Foundation. Dan has 19 years of experience working on climate change and sustainability in the public and private sectors in over 20 countries around the world. Previously Dan worked for PwC, where he was the Deputy CEO of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), a global program funded by the UK and Dutch governments that helps developing countries respond to climate change. Before that, Dan held various posts at Defra, (the U.K. Environment and Agriculture Ministry), including: Head of the Secretary of State’s office; co-founder of the UK’s Adapting to Climate Change Program; adaptation policy lead on the UK Climate Change Act and sustainable agriculture advisor. Dan also worked for the UK Foreign Office as a climate attaché. Dan has an MSc in International Development from Bristol University, where he also was a lecturer and researcher in global environmental politics. In his early career Dan lived and worked in the rainforests of Latin America.

Vanessa Hauc

Anchor and Reporter, Telemundo

Vanessa is an Emmy Award-winning correspondent for Noticiero Telemundo. She began working as a presenter and news reporter for Univision's KINC Channel 15 in Las Vegas, where she also presented "En Contacto", a public affairs program produced by the City of Las Vegas in English for the Hispanic community. In 2002 Vanessa joined the Telemundo network to become part of "Al Rojo Vivo con María Celeste", as reporter and co-presenter. Her passion for ecology inspired her to create the "Alerta Verde" segment with the goal of informing and educating the community about the importance of protecting the environment.

Vanessa has covered several social, cultural and political events to natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the earthquakes in Chile, Japan and Haiti, as well as the Chilean miners' rescue. She has also travelled throughout the United States reporting on the anti-immigration laws that have come up around the nation and challenging the legislators that implement them. Vanessa holds a degree in Communications and Journalism from the University of Nevada and received a Master's Degree in Economy and International Politics from the University of Miami.

Connie Hedegaard

Chair of the KR Foundation, Former European Commissioner for Climate Action

Ms. Connie Hedegaard was the European Commissioner for Climate Action from 2010 to 2014, during which she led the negotiations towards the adoption of the EU 2030 Climate and Energy Framework. As EU Commissioner, she was also responsible for the 2050 Roadmap for moving to a low carbon economy and represented the EU in the international climate negotiations.

With two decades of experience in international and domestic executive policy making Connie Hedegaard is today assuming several key positions in support of a low-carbon and green economy. Ms. Hedegaard is the first chair of the Board for the KR Foundation and is also the current chair of OECD’s Round Table for Sustainable Development; chair of the Danish Government’s Committee on Public Service; chair of the Board for the green think tank, CONCITO; member of the Nordex Supervisory Board; member of the Danfoss A/S Board; and member of the Board of Aarhus University. Ms. Hedegaard has furthermore been appointed Public Investigator for the Norwegian government’s project on Green Competitiveness. Connie Hedegaard has a background in Journalism.

Anne Hidalgo

Mayor of Paris

The first woman to be elected Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo took office in April 2014. Her agenda is focused on social inclusion, sustainable development, solidarity, citizen participation and innovation, essential topics in building the Paris of tomorrow. After co-hosting the Climate Summit for Local Leaders in December 2015 with Michael Bloomberg, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, she was elected as the new Chair of C40 Cities, the leading network of the 85 most important cities in the world committed to addressing climate change.

Born in Spain, she is the mother of three children and married to Jean-Marc Germain, a Member of Parliament. Former Labour inspector, she has occupied several positions in national and international organizations before becoming First Deputy Mayor of Paris (2001- 14), in charge of gender equality and later in charge of urban planning and architecture. She holds a Master’s degree in Labour law from the Labour and Social Security Institute of Paris.

Gregory Hodkinson

Chairman, ARUP

Gregory Hodkinson has spent most of his professional career at Arup and is a passionate believer in Arup’s mission to ‘shape a better world’. His professional experience is primarily in the planning, design and project management of transport infrastructure, which he has undertaken throughout the world. He has more than 40 years’ experience in large-scale projects, including the Sony Centre in Berlin; Darling Harbour Development in Sydney; Terminals 2,3,4,5 and 7 at JFK Airport, as well as the Fulton Centre and Second Avenue Subway in New York. Gregory joined Arup in 1972, having been inspired by the firm’s work on the Sydney Opera House. He led the firm’s expansion in the USA from 1988 as a founding Principal of the New York office. He became Chairman of the Americas Region in 2004 and in 2011 moved to Milan to lead the firm’s European business. He was appointed Chairman of Arup Group in 2014. In addition to his work with Arup, Gregory is a member of the International Advisory Board of British American Business, the Advisory Board of the China–Britain Business Council, the Infrastructure & Urban Development Industries Governors Steering Committee, and Chairman of the Future of Urban Development & Services Steering Committee at the World Economic Forum. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Gregory is a former Trustee of WaterAid, an international charity dedicated to bringing safe drinking water and sanitation to the world’s poorest people and a former Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.

Penny Hulse

Councillor, Auckland

Councillor Penny Hulse comes from a background deeply rooted in community and cares passionately about the Auckland region and its people as a whole. She has served on local bodies for the Waitakere region for 18 years. Penny is currently an Auckland Council Councillor and was the first Deputy Mayor of the newly-formed Auckland Council commencing 2010. Before that, she was Deputy Mayor of Waitakere City. Waitakere City was an Eco City committed to sustainable urban design focused on reducing climate change impacts and enabling a more sustainable future. She is now Chair of the Environment and Community Committee. Penny was a driving force behind the Unitary Plan, the first region-wide plan giving effect to Auckland’s spatial plan, for the newly amalgamated Auckland. At its heart, this plan enshrines the development of a Compact City. She also secured regional funding for Project Twin Streams, a community and environmental restoration project which mobilized 10,000 volunteers and which is being duplicated nationally. Penny cycles to work every day and is a grandmother committed to a better world for her grandchildren.

Naoko Ishii

CEO & Chairperson, Global Environment Facility

Naoko Ishii has served as the CEO and Chairperson for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) since August 2012. In October 2015, the GEF Council unanimously agreed to extend her tenure for the second term until August 2020. Previously, Ms. Ishii was the Deputy Vice Minister of Finance of Japan, where she was responsible for Japan's international financial and development policies, and for its global policies on environmental issues such as climate change and biodiversity. She led the Japanese delegation at the Transition Committee for designing the Green Climate Fund.

For nearly half of her career, Ms. Ishii has served on international assignments, including at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. At the World Bank, Ms. Ishii was the Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives (2006-2010). She also served as the World Bank's country program coordinator for Vietnam (1997-2001), a project manager at the Harvard Institute for International Development (1996-1997), an economist at the International Monetary Fund (1992-1995) working on Africa and Asia, and a visiting fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University (1984-1985). Ms. Ishii taught sustainable development and environment at Keio University. She has published numerous papers and several books, two of which were awarded the Suntory Prize (1990) and Okita Memorial Prize for International Development Research (2004). She is the inaugural recipient of the 2006 Enjoji Jiro Memorial Prize. She holds a B.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo.

Frank Jensen

Lord Mayor of Copenhagen

Mayor Jensen is a Danish politician, Deputy Leader of the Danish Social Democratic party, and has been Lord Mayor of Copenhagen since 1 January 2010. Frank Jensen got involved in politics from an early age. As a university student the high unemployment rates among young people was at the top of his list of main concerns. Consequently, he initiated a project aimed at advising unemployed youths. In 1987 he was elected to represent the Social Democrats in the Danish Parliament. During his twenty years in the Parliament, he held positions of both Minister of Research (1994-96) and Minister of Justice (1996-2001) in the Cabinets of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. In 2007 Frank Jensen left politics for a few years to work as CEO for Telecom Scandinavia (2007-2008) and CEO for The Association of Danish Law Firms (2008-2009).

Raymond Johansen

Governing Mayor of Oslo

Governing Mayor Raymond Johansen is the head of the City Government of Oslo. He coordinates the City Government’s work, and is responsible for cross cutting policies and coordinating staff functions. Johansen has lived in Oslo for most of his life. Educated as a plumber, but he has dedicated most of his working life to politics. At the age of 30, he was appointed to the City Government in Oslo as Vice Mayor for Transport and Nature Preservation, then representing the Socialist Left Party. He has served as State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Secretary General of the Labour Party from 2009 until 2015, Head of Department in the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and as Secretary General for the Norwegian Refugee Council.

He started his term as Governing Mayor of Oslo on 21 October 2015 and he leads a City Government Coalition composed of representatives from the Labour Party, the Green Party and the Socialist Left Party. Oslo is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe, and has inhabitants from more than 200 nations. The capital is a green city with a unique access to nature, pulsating cultural life, great academic institutions and a business community full of initiative.

Wong Kam-Sing

Secretary for the Environment, Hong Kong

Mr KS Wong was born in 1963 and is an architect by profession. He has been promoting green building and building energy efficiency over the past years. He had served as the Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Green Building Council and the Chairman of the Professional Green Building Council. He has contributed to the development of local green building standards and taken part in a number of green building projects.Before joining the Government, he has contributed to the work of a number of Government advisory bodies. In particular, he had active involvement in the public engagement processes of the Council for Sustainable Development. He was the convener of the Support Group on Combating Climate Change: Energy Saving and Carbon Emission Reduction in Buildings. He was also a member of the Support Group on Building Design to Foster a Quality and Sustainable Built Environment. Mr Wong graduated from the Department of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong. He received further education on green building from the University of British Columbia in Canada. He has been appointed as the Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR Government and assumed the post on 1 July 2012.

Lamia Kamal-Chaoui

Director of the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Local Development and Tourism and Head of Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth in Cities Initiative

Lamia Kamal-Chaoui is the Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development (CFE). In this capacity, she oversees the Centre’s work as the OECD’s policy delivery-hub for entrepreneurship, SMEs, local development and tourism. This includes the Local Employment and Economic Development Programme (LEED) and the Champion Mayors for Inclusive growth Initiative. She previously served as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary-General, supporting its strategic agenda, including addressing on inequalities and climate change. Her responsibilities also included the coordination of the OECD Inclusive Growth initiative, the Knowledge-Sharing Alliance programme, the implementation of the OECD Strategy on Development and relationships with philanthropic Foundations. Prior to working in the Cabinet, she was Head of the Urban Programme for more than ten years, advising national and local governments on issues related to governance, social inclusion, climate change and green growth and initiated the launch of the OECD Roundtable of Mayors and Ministers on Urban Development. She has also held other positions at the OECD in the Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, the Trade Directorate and the Financial and Enterprises Affairs Directorate. Ms. Kamal-Chaoui is a member of several International Committees and Advisory Boards, is a graduate school professor and teaches “Governing Large Cities” at Sciences Po, Paris.

Dr Huang Lan

Vice Mayor of Nanjing

Dr. Huang Lan is the Vice Mayor of Nanjing, with responsibility for commerce, investment, foreign affairs, foreign trade, food production, modern service industry, and developing zones. Since 1985, Dr. Huang Lan has worked across a range of organisations, including Nanjing Information Center, Foreign Trade Department of Nanjing Economic Administration Commission, Nanjing Investment Company, Nanjing Development and Reform Commission, and the General Office of Nanjing Municipal Government. He was elected by the People’s Congress to be the Vice Mayor of Nanjing in January 2015.

Stella Li

Senior Vice President of BYD Co., Ltd. and President of BYD Motors Inc.

Stella Li is presently the Senior Vice President of BYD Company Limited. And she also is the President of BYD Motors Inc., a Southern-California based company that imports renewable- power products, green-energy products and zero-emissions vehicles from China. Stella received her Bachelor's Degree in Statistics from one of China's Top 3 Universities (Fudan University) in 1992. In 1996, Stella joined BYD as the marketing manager for all global exports. In 1997, she opened BYD first overseas office in HK, then found the first European office in Rotterdam in 1999. In 2011, she set up BYD NA Headquarters in Los Angeles. In 2010, she has been assigned to be president of BYD Motors Inc. and started promoting the BYD auto business into the North and South American Markets.

Patricia De Lille

Mayor of Cape Town

Patricia de Lille was once described by Former President Nelson Mandela as his favourite opposition politician. More than 40 years ago, her career in politics was born from her involvement in trade unions and she went on to become the first woman to be elected as the Vice-President of the National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU). De Lille was the first woman in South Africa to start her own political party which went on to win seats in national, provincial and local government level. She has served in all three spheres of the South African government and served in Parliament for 16 years. Since 2015 she has been the provincial leader of the Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape, South Africa’s official opposition party. Mrs de Lille is currently serving her second term as the Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town. During the local government elections of 2016 she was re-elected with a two-thirds majority. Under her leadership, Cape Town has widely been regarded as the best run metro in South Africa and has received numerous national and international awards. Cape Town has also acquired a global reputation for its contribution to numerous international initiatives for cities.

Enrique Peñalosa Londoño

Mayor of Bogota

Enrique Peñalosa is the Mayor of Bogotá since 2016. He previously held this office from 1998-2001, during which time he led the transformation of the city into a model of sustainability, mobility, quality of life and equality. He is known for creating a network of bicycle paths, projects for the upgrading of slums, a land bank to provide quality housing in low-income neighborhoods, parks and pedestrianised areas in the poorest sectors of the city, daily restriction on car use during peak hours, public parks and libraries, public schools of high architectural quality, and the TransMilenio Bus Rapid Transit network. Beyond his own city, Peñalosa has lectured at numerous forums and universities on environmental issues, urban planning and urban policy, and has advised governments in Asia, Africa, Australia, Latin America and the United States.

Amory Lovins

Chairman/Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute

Physicist Amory Lovins is cofounder and Chief Scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute; energy advisor to major firms and governments in 65+ countries for 40+ years; author of 31 books and 600 papers; and an integrative designer of superefficient buildings, factories, and vehicles. He has received the Blue Planet, Volvo, Zayed, Onassis, Nissan, Shingo, and Mitchell Prizes, the MacArthur and Ashoka Fellowships, the Happold, Benjamin Franklin, and Spencer Hutchens Medals, 12 honorary doctorates, and the Heinz, Lindbergh, Right Livelihood (“alternative Nobel”), National Design, and World Technology Awards. In 2016, the President of Germany awarded him the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit. A Harvard and Oxford dropout, former Oxford don, honorary US architect, and Swedish engineering academician, he has taught at ten universities, most recently Stanford’s Engineering School and the Naval Postgraduate School. He is a member of the U.S. National Petroleum Council and an advisor to the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations. Time has named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people, and Foreign Policy, one of the 100 top global thinkers.

Katarina Luhr

Vice Mayor of Stockholm

Katarina Luhr was born in 1973 and grew up in Ronneby in the south of Sweden. She has a background as a pharmacist and holds a PhD in neuroscience. She entered the Stockholm City Council in 2010 representing the Green party. After the general elections in 2014 the City Council elected Katarina Luhr Vice Mayor of Environment, member of the City Executive Boars, and Chair of the Environment and Health Committee.

Niels Lund

Vice President, Novo Nordisk

Niels Lund is Vice President for Health Advocacy in Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company with more than 90 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. Niels Lund is responsible for the Changing Diabetes® portfolio of programs and activities, including flagship programs such as Cities Changing Diabetes, Changing Diabetes in Children, Team Novo Nordisk and Changing Diabetes in Pregnancy. The department is also responsible for the access to insulin commitment and for the corporate patient strategy. Niels joined Novo Nordisk in 2007 as a health economist and worked in various functions before joining Corporate Stakeholder Engagement in 2012. Before joining Novo Nordisk, Niels worked in international development with assignments for UNICEF in India and the World Bank in Washington DC.

Dr Miguel Ángel Mancera

Mayor of Mexico

Mr. Mancera holds the position of Head of Government of Mexico City since December 5th, 2012, for which he was elected with the highest vote registered in the history of the City. During his administration, he has promoted sustainable development, mobility; revitalization of public spaces, and the fight against climate change as a priority of government. In 2013 he launched the first Mobility Program of Mexico City; focus on moving people, not just cars, in a scheme that gives priority to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. In 2014 Mayor Mancera launched the Mexico City’s Climate Action Program 2014-2020, which aims to mitigate 10 million Tons of CO2Eq and to reduce the vulnerability of 5.6 million inhabitants that are exposed to the impacts of climate change in the City. In 2015, under the leadership of Mayor Mancera, Mexico City joined the Compact of Mayors and in the same year the City was recognized as the first city worldwide to meet all the commitments of the Compact with the highest level: BASIC+ Mancera Espinosa holds a PhD in Law by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) where he received the Alfonso Caso Medal, awarded to the best students of UNAM.

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez (pronounced ‘Shoe-Tez-Caht’) is a 16-year old indigenous climate activist, hip-hop artist, and a powerful voice on the front lines of a global youth-led environmental movement. Xiuhtezcatl has been speaking about climate change since the age of six, including at the Rio+20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro and at the General Assembly at the United Nations New York. He is the Youth Director of Earth Guardians, an organization of young activists, artists and musicians from across the globe stepping up as leaders and working together to create positive concrete action in their communities to address climate change. He is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Obama administration for their failure to protect the atmosphere and their future. He has worked locally to get pesticides out of parks, coal ash contained and moratoriums on fracking in his state.

He has traveled across the nation and to many parts of the world educating his generation about the state of the planet they are inheriting and inspiring them into action to protect the Earth. His movement has grown to over 2,000 youth lead Earth Guardian crews globally working on the frontline to combat climate change. In 2013, Xiuhtezcatl received the 2013 United States Community Service Award from President Obama, and was the youngest of 24 national change-makers chosen to serve on the President's youth council. He is the 2015 recipient of the Peace First Prize and the recipient 2015 Nickelodeon Halo Award.

Antonis Mavropoulos

President, International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)

Antonis Mavropoulos is the President of the International Solid Waste Association, and the founder and CEO of D-Waste. He has been involved in solid waste management projects for 20 years, in 23 countries and he has completed more than 150 projects. His recent research work deals with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Megacities, Mobile Apps and the challenge of Circular Economy.

He has invented the Waste Atlas, a global interactive waste management map, which is also available as a mobile app. He has also designed several mobile apps for recycling and waste management purposes. Recently he launched the website Wasteless Future where he promotes the combination of technical and social innovation as the key for the transition from sustainable waste management to circular economy. Antonis Mavropoulos has published and participated in the writing of several books and scientific publications, while his articles have been translated in Portuguese, Rumanian, Hindu and Spanish.

Brandee McHale

President, Citi Foundation

Brandee McHale is President of the Citi Foundation and Director of Corporate Citizenship at Citi. She is responsible for overseeing the Citi Foundation's global grant making strategy and for leading Citi's citizenship efforts, including volunteerism and environmental sustainability. Brandee first joined Citi in 1991, and over the past two decades, she has served in a variety of business management and philanthropy-related leadership roles, including Director of Operations for Citi Community Capital and as a Senior Relationship Manager in Citi's then Community Relations and Community Reinvestment Act units. Most recently, Brandee has been Chief Operating Officer of the Citi Foundation. From 2004-2007, Brandee worked at the Ford Foundation, where she developed a portfolio of investments that supported the efforts of low-income households to achieve financial success and helped to establish a business case for financial inclusion. Brandee is Board Chair of the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) and also serves on the board of directors of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Living Cities, and America's Promise Alliance. She holds a Master's degree in Urban Policy from the New School for Social Research.

Onkar Singh Meena

Onkar Singh Meena is career civil servant from Indian Administrative Services, having vast experience of working with State Government in the capacity of regulatory, public policy formulations, social and economic development and administrative functions. His areas of expertise are Health, Urban Infrastructure and Municipal Administration, District Administration and Agriculture. Currently, he is Chief Executive Officer of Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) apart from Secretary to State Government working under guidance and direction of Hon'ble Minister in Charge of Municipal & Urban Development. Kolkata Solid Waste Improvement & Management Project has been executed by KMDA. Chairman of Local Municipal body, Mr Dilip Yadav is also present today. He is an elected representative.

Clover Moore

Lord Mayor of Sydney

Clover Moore is Lord Mayor of Sydney, currently serving her third term. She is the first popularly elected woman to lead the City of Sydney and previously served on the City and South Sydney councils. From March 1988 Clover was continuously elected to represent the Bligh/Sydney electorate as an independent MP in the NSW Parliament. She was forced to resign on 21 September 2012 after a state law made it illegal for her to continue in both roles. An opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald once said: "In her 20 years as MP, with more successful private member's bills than anyone in a century, Moore has done more to keep the bastards honest than Don Chipp ever did.” Throughout her public life, Clover has championed progressive policies. Small bars, freedom of information laws, whistleblower protection, disclosure of government contracts, boarding house protection, tenant's rights, strata title reform, making it illegal to incite hatred against members of the GLBT community and making same sex adoption legal are among her achievements.

When she held the balance of power alongside other independents in NSW she delivered a charter of reform, called the most radical state political reform agenda of any Westminster Parliament in the 20th century. As Lord Mayor, Clover has led the development and implementation of the City's internationally renowned long term plan – Sustainable Sydney 2030. The plan includes ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse emissions. Under her leadership, the City has developed a global reputation for delivering award winning facilities, protecting open space, promoting design excellence, delivering new transport options, championing sustainability and initiating progressive solutions to complex city social problems. Clover is an arts graduate of Sydney University. She has 2 children, Sophie and Tom. She lives in inner-Sydney Redfern with husband Peter and staffy-kelpie cross Bessie.

Solly Msimanga

Mayor of Tshwane

Solly Tshepiso Msimanga was born on 16 July 1980 in Atteridgeville, where he grew up and attended school. Msimanga holds a National Diploma in Marketing Management as well as a Bachelor of Accounting Sciences in Financial Accounting (BCompt) degree from the University of Pretoria. Before he became a politician and upon becoming active in politics he held a number of senior management positions in the private sector. He held positions as National Lead Director and Gauteng Provincial Director. He is a graduate of the Democratic Alliance Young Leaders Academy. He previously occupied the position of DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Sports in the Provincial Legislature and also served on the Education and the Economic Development Portfolio Committees. He is currently the DA Chairperson in the Gauteng North Region. Msimanga and his wife Monde got married in 2006 and the couple has two young sons. He enjoys travelling, reading, listening to music and cooking and does a lot of charity work. He heads a charity organisation called the Make Somebody’s Christmas a Merry One, a project that donates groceries to the needy and poor families.

Edward B. Murray

Mayor of Seattle

Edward B. Murray became Mayor of Seattle on January 1, 2014 and promptly set the tone for his administration by signing an executive order raising the minimum wage of City government employees to $15 an hour along with a vow to deliver the same raise to all minimum wage workers in Seattle. He followed through on that promise within the first six months on the job by convening a committee comprised of business, labour, and non-profit stakeholders to work out the terms of a deal that would benefit all involved and set the highest minimum wage in the nation. For this work, he was named one of Politico Magazine's "50 thinkers, doers and dreamers who really matter in this age of gridlock and dysfunction."

That first move as Mayor aligns with Murray's 18-year history as a Washington State legislator representing the 43rd Legislative District. Driven by his commitment to social justice and social equity throughout his career, Murray was well known in the Legislature for reaching across party lines to bring meaningful protections and resources to vulnerable populations.

Murray was the prime sponsor of Washington state's historic marriage equality law, as well as the prime sponsor of the 2002 Safe Schools bill protecting sexual minority youth in schools and a landmark bill banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation signed into law in 2006. During his time in the House, he drove legislation that doubled funding for low-income housing.

That same dedication to social justice shaped Murray's mayoral agenda of making Seattle a safe, affordable, vibrant and interconnected city for all.

Since taking office, he has proposed a ballot measure to pilot a high-quality preschool program, established sustainable long-term funding for Seattle's parks system, and provided a way to stave off imminent cuts to King Country Metro bus service. Murray's honours include the 2002 Human Rights Campaign Leadership Equality Award; the 2005 Anti-Defamation League's Cal Anderson Award; the 2006 Distinguished Public Service Award from the Washington State Psychological Association; the 2009 Legislator of the Year Award from the Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs; and the 2012 Warren G. Magnuson Award.

Murray lives in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighbourhood with his partner of 24 years, Michael Shiosaki. They married at St. Mark's Cathedral in 2013.

Jesper Nygård

CEO, Realdania

Jesper Nygård is the CEO of Realdania. Mr. Nygård obtained an MSc in Public Administration from Roskilde Universitetscenter in 1989. He is Member of the Board of the C40 Cities, Danish Architecture Center and Fonden for Socialt Ansvar (Federation for Social Responsibility). Mr. Nygård joined the Supervisory Board of Realdania in 2003 and was elected Chairman in 2009. He resigned from the Supervisory Board on June 4th 2013, when becoming CEO of Realdania. As Realdania’s CEO Mr. Nygård also became the Chairman of the Board for Realdania By & Byg. Before joining Realdania, Mr. Nygård was CEO of KAB, a large Danish non-profit social housing association, from 1996-2013. Mr. Nygård has previously served as Chairman of the Board of Landsbyggefonden (The National Social Housing Fund) from 2000-2013, Member of the Board for BRF Kredit A/S from 2013-2013, Chairman of the Board of The Social Housing Association AKB from 1988-1996 (Member of the Board from 1983-1996) and Chairman of The National Federation of Housing Associations from 1993-1996 (Member of the Board from 1990-2013). Additionally Mr. Nygård has been and is a Member of several other boards and committees. Mr. Nygård is an active public debater. He lives in Birkerød north of Copenhagen with his wife Tine and their two daughters.

Dr Jonathan Pershing

Special Envoy for Climate Change, U.S. Department of State

Dr. Jonathan Pershing is the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the U.S. Department of State. Previously, he served as the Senior Climate Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and the Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis at the Department of Energy. Prior to joining DOE, Dr. Pershing was the Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change and the lead negotiator representing the United States at meetings of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Before his appointment to the Obama Administration, he spent six years as the Director of the Climate, Energy and Pollution Program at the World Resources Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank; five years as the Head of the Environment Division at the International Energy Agency in Paris; and for nearly a decade in the 1990s, served the Science Advisor and Deputy Director of the Office of Global Change in the U.S. Department of State.

Dr. Pershing holds a Ph.D. in geology and geophysics, and has also held positions in the private sector as a petroleum and mining geologist, and as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Minnesota and at American University. He has published and lectured widely on climate and energy issues, and has served as a lead author, review editor and contributor for reports of the Nobel-prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Shelley Poticha

Director, Urban Solutions, NRDC

Shelley Poticha leads NRDC’s Urban Solutions team, which advances strategies that create strong, just, and resilient communities. She works with local, national, and global leaders to make cities part of the answer to climate change while ensuring that all people can lead healthy, thriving lives. Previously Poticha was a senior political appointee in the Obama administration, where she led the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities and launched the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She also served as president and CEO of Reconnecting America and as executive director of the Congress for the New Urbanism following 10 years as an urban planner. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a master’s in urban and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She is based in Washington, D.C.

Li Qun

Secretary of CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee

Li Qun was born in Wendeng, Shandong in February 1962, has a PhD in Management, and is a Member of the Standing Committee of CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, Secretary of CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee and Alternate Member of the 18th CPC Central Committee. He has worked at the School of Physics, School of Management Science, and the Communist Youth League (CYL) Committee of Shandong University in succession. From December 1991, he served as Deputy Secretary and then Secretary of Weifang Municipal CYL Committee, Deputy Secretary of CPC Shouguang Committee, and Mayor of Shouguang. From 1996, he served as Deputy Secretary of Shandong Provincial CYL Committee, Secretary of Shandong Provincial CYL Committee, and Member of the Standing Committee of CYL Central Committee. From January 2001, he served as Deputy Secretary of CPC Linyi Municipal Committee, Acting Mayor and Mayor of Linyi, Secretary of CPC Linyi Municipal Committee, and Chairman of the Standing Committee of Linyi Municipal People's Congress. From March 2007, he acted as Head of the Publicity Department of CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, and Member of the Standing Committee of CPC Shandong Provincial Committee. In October 2010, he took office as Member of the Standing Committee of CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and Secretary of CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee. In November 2012, he became Alternate Member of the 18th CPC Central Committee.

Gregor Robertson

Mayor of Vancouver

Mayor Gregor Robertson was elected to his third on November 2014. He spearheaded the creation of the city’s Economic Action Strategy, and Vancouver now leads Canada with the fastest growing, most resilient and greenest economy in Canada. Mayor Robertson has also overseen the award-winning Greenest City 2020 Action Plan to make Vancouver a global environmental leader, on top of being the first major North American city to set the goal of being 100% renewably powered by 2050 (or sooner). Mayor Robertson has also made affordable housing a top priority, with an aggressive, ten-year plan to provide thousands of affordable homes, while ensuring that existing affordable housing is protected. Prior to entering politics, Gregor co-founded Happy Planet, a socially responsible company that produces organic juices and promotes health and nutrition. He also previously represented Vancouver-Fairview as a Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly.

Shirley Rodrigues

Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, London

Shirley Rodrigues is Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy in London. Prior to this Shirley was Acting Executive Director for Climate Change at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), an independent philanthropic organisation that works to transform the lives of poor and vulnerable children in developing countries, where she oversaw a £155million global strategy and portfolio. Shirley helped establish CIFF's cities and climate strategy and represented CIFF on the board of the C40 Large Cities Leadership Group. Shirley has an impressive track record of developing and implementing new environmental policies in London having worked in senior environmental policy roles from 2005 to 2009 at City Hall, London, helping to implement the London Low Emission Zone and programmes to retrofit London’s residential and commercial buildings. Shirley will use her wealth of environmental expertise to drive forward the Mayor’s hard-hitting plans for tackling air pollution across the capital, oversee the delivery of Energy for Londoners and will help transition London to a circular economy whilst boosting London’s recycling rates.

Janette Sadik-Khan

Former Commissioner of the NYC Department of Transportation, Bloomberg Associates

She was Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation from 2007–2013 under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, leading one of the most sweeping revitalizations of the city’s streets in a half-century. During her tenure, New York City added nearly 400 miles of bike lanes and the first parking-protected bike paths in North America. The department she led set in motion more than 60 plazas across the city, including the historic plazas that shut Broadway through Times Square, sparking economic recovery throughout the area. She worked with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to launch the city’s first six rapid bus lines and oversaw hundreds of intersection and street redesigns that contributed to the city’s record-low traffic fatalities. Sadik-Khan oversaw the 2013 launch of Citi Bike, the nation’s largest bike share system, which to date has been used more than 22 million times and is doubling in size to 12,000 bikes.

She currently advises mayors of cities around the world as a principal at Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consultancy established by Michael Bloomberg to help cities around the world improve the quality of life of their citizens. She assists mayors and their teams in developing street redesigns in cities from Los Angeles to Mexico City to Rio and Athens. As chair of the National Association of Transportation Officials (NACTO), an organization of transportation commissioners and directors in 38 cities, she led the development and publication of NACTO’s Global and Urban Street Design Guides and the Urban Bikeway Design Guide. The new standards in these documents have been recognized by USDOT and adopted by 40 cities worldwide. Sadik-Khan was a Senior Vice President of Parsons Brinckerhoff, a leading international engineering firm. Previously, she worked in Washington, D.C., as a Deputy Administrator at the US Department of Transportation. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Occidental College, and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.

Giuseppe Sala

Mayor of Milan

Giuseppe Sala is the Mayor of Milan since June 2016. Born in Milan in 1958, he graduated in 1983 in Economics from Università Bocconi. He has held various positions of responsibility in both the private and public sector, gaining important managerial experience. Known for being at the helm of Expo Milan 2015, he had previously taken leading roles in big companies such as Pirelli and Telecom Italy. In January 2009 he started serving in the public sector, as City Manager of the Milan Municipal Administration. He held that office until he was appointed CEO of the company managing Expo 2015 in June 2010. In May 2013, he was appointed as Commissioner of the Government for Expo Milan 2015. His love for Milan and his willingness to work to make it a fairer, a more international and more attractive place led him to commit himself to politics.

Tony Shorris

First Deputy Mayor, New York City

Anthony E. Shorris currently serves as First Deputy Mayor of the City of New York. Prior to that, he was Vice Dean, Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff of the NYU Langone Medical Center. From 2003 to 2007, he taught at Princeton University, where he also directed the Policy Research Institute for the Region (PRIOR). He taught classes on education economics and policy during his tenure on the faculty of the Woodrow Wilson School.

From 1984 to 1988, Shorris served as New York City's deputy budget director, acting as an architect of Mayor Edward I. Koch's Ten Year Housing Plan. He would go on to serve as the City's Finance Commissioner from 1987 to 1989. From 1991 to 1995, Shorris served as First Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersy. He subsequently served as the 11th Executive Director of the Port Authority from 2007 to 2008. From 2000 to 2003, Shorris served as Deputy Chancellor for Operations and Policy at the Board of Education of the City of New York. In 2006 to 2007, he also led the development of Governor Eliot Spitzer’s education reform initiative while serving as senior policy advisor to the transition. Shorris's work on education, infrastructure, and financial management has been published by the New York Times, the Newark Star-Ledger, the Nation Magazine, and the Century Foundation.

Greg Stanton

Mayor of Phoenix

Since taking office in 2012, Mayor Greg Stanton has worked tirelessly to build a modern economy that works for every Phoenix family. By boosting trade with Mexico, investing in the biosciences, and lifting up local small business, Stanton is leading the way to create an innovation-based, export economy built to last. Stanton is committed to making Phoenix a more welcoming and open place. Under his leadership, Phoenix became the first U.S. city to end chronic homelessness among veterans. Phoenix also earned national recognition as a leader on LGBT issues, and became the first Arizona city to earn a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign's municipal equality index.

Stanton attended Marquette University on the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, and earned a law degree from the University of Michigan. Before he was elected to his first term mayor in 2011, Stanton served nine years on the City Council and as Arizona's Deputy Attorney General. In 2015, Stanton won reelection and also successfully led one of the most ambitious transportation initiatives in the country – a plan that will triple Phoenix's light rail system over the next 35 years. In his second term, Stanton will continue to shape an economy that works for everyone – one rooted in innovation and focused on growing exports.

Dr. Andrew Steer

President and CEO, World Resources Institute (WRI)

Dr. Andrew Steer is the President and CEO of the World Resources Institute, a global research organization that works in more than 50 countries, with offices in the Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States. WRI’s more than 500 experts work with leaders to address six urgent global challenges at the intersection of economic development and the natural environment: food, forests, water, climate, energy and cities. Dr. Steer joined WRI from the World Bank, where he served as Special Envoy for Climate Change from 2010 - 2012. From 2007 to 2010, he served as Director General at the UK Department of International Development (DFID) in London.

Dr. Steer is a Global Agenda Trustee for the World Economic Forum, and is a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), the Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Energy Transitions Commission, the Champions 12.3 Coalition to reduce food loss and waste, the Sustainable Advisory Groups of both IKEA and the Bank of America, and he serves on the Executive Board of the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy For All Initiative.

In earlier years, Andrew held several senior posts at the World Bank, including Director of the Environment Department. He also has directed World Bank operations in Vietnam and Indonesia and served as Chief of the Country Risk Division and Director and Chief Author of the 1992 World Development Report on Environment and Development. Andrew was educated at St Andrews University, Scotland, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cambridge University. He has a PhD in economics.

Nigel Topping

CEO, We Mean Business

Nigel serves as the CEO of We Mean Business - a coalition of organisations working on climate change with thousands of the world’s most influential businesses and investors. He serves on the Energy Transitions Commission and on the board of the Grantham Institute. Previously, Nigel was Executive Director of CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project). Nigel has 18 years’ experience in the private sector, consulting for and running manufacturing businesses. He holds a BA in Mathematics from Cambridge University and an MSc in Holistic Science from Schumacher College.

Helena Molin Valdés

Head of the Secretariat, Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) UNEP

An experienced leader within the UN system, Helena is since 2013 heading up the Secretariat for the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC), hosted by the United Nations Environment Program in Paris. She is a former senior executive with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and a long-time proponent of sustainable development, climate change mitigation and adaption, and disaster risk reduction. She was instrumental in making the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) an important force in global disaster risk management and launched the global Resilient Cities campaign in 2012. She headed up a regional Office in Costa Rica for Latin America and the Caribbean for almost a decade, and worked with the Pan-American Health Organization to build safer hospitals. As Deputy Director of UNISDR, based in Geneva, she worked in both Africa and Asia.

Helena has co-authored many papers, handbooks, global reviews and reports on local development, sustainable development, disaster risk reduction and resilience. She worked early in her professional life on community led local development projects and housing, improved bricks production from traditional kilns in Central America, and improved cook-stoves to reduce indoor air pollution and increase energy efficiency through a Swedish NGO in collaboration with research centres. She holds a Master degree in architecture with thesis on development planning and implementation from Lund University, Sweden.

Dr Arshad Vohra

Deputy Mayor of Karachi

Dr. Arshad A. Vohra is the current Deputy Mayor of Karachi and an ex parliamentarian of Sindh Assembly. He is an established industrialist of Karachi, who has been strengthening the community for a thriving megalopolis and Pakistan as a whole.

Before becoming the member of the Sindh Assembly, he held several positions in S.I.T.E Association of Industry as Chairman, Chairman Environmental Sub-Committee, Chairman International Relations and Foreign Mission Sub-Committee. His never ending list of achievements also include serving as the Director Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, Trustee on the Board of Directors of Karachi Port Trust, Director Sindh Industrial Trading Estate Limited and Coordinator with United Nations Industrial Development Organisation on Industrial Environment research in Karachi. He is a professional chemical engineer with a Doctorate in Textile Technology from the University of Manchester.

Mark Watts

Executive Director, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

Mark Watts serves as the Executive Director for C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. Prior to joining C40, Mark was the Director of Arup’s energy consulting team based in London. Focused on cities and sustainability, he lead Arup’s partnership with the C40 group of cities committed to tackling climate change. Prior to joining Arup as a Director in 2008, he was the climate change and sustainable transport adviser to the Mayor of London, in which role the London Evening Standard described him as “the intellectual force behind Ken Livingstone’s drive to make London a leading light of the battle against global warming.” He led the development of London's ground-breaking Climate Change Action Plan and the associated programme of projects to reduce London’s carbon emissions by 60% by 2025. Mark is a member of the Yale Climate Dialogue and is a member of the Advisory Group at WRI's Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.

Antha Williams

Environment Program Lead, Bloomberg Philanthropies

Antha N. Williams leads the Environment Program at Bloomberg Philanthropies, Michael R. Bloomberg’s philanthropic organization with a mission to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. Under Antha’s direction, Bloomberg Philanthropies supports environmental initiatives to improve sustainability of cities around the world, to accelerate the transition to clean energy, and to combat overfishing. Bloomberg Philanthropies’ environment program also serves as the hub of Michael Bloomberg’s personal efforts to combat climate change – including in his role as United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for cities and Climate Change. Previously Antha served as Senior Vice President at Corridor Partners, a donor advisory firm focused on climate and clean energy. Antha also worked as the Advocacy Executive at Atlantic Philanthropies, where she oversaw grants to support health care and comprehensive immigration reform. As Program Officer at Beldon Fund, Antha built support for environmental issues by policymakers through grassroots organizing at the state level. Outside of philanthropy, Antha has worked as a campaigner and organizer, directing large scale voter protection efforts and serving in leadership positions for five years with Green Corps, a training program for aspiring environmental organizers. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. Antha graduated from Dartmouth College and lives in New York.

Yan Zhongqiu

His former position includes: Deputy Director and Director of the Division for Urban Building of the Research Office of Beijing Municipal Government, Counselor of the Research Office of Beijing Municipal Government; Vice General Manager of Beijing Beiao Group Corporation; Director of the General Office of Organization Department of Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China; Deputy Secretary General of Beijing Municipal Government; Deputy Secretary General of the Bidding Committee of the 29th Olympic Games; Deputy Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the 29th Olympic Games.